Hy-Vee Announces Benefits Program for Part-Time Employees

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (May 1, 2018) — Hy-Vee, Inc. and its subsidiary, Midwest Heritage, in conjunction with Connecture, a web-based platform for health insurance distribution, have a new part-time employee benefits program for Hy-Vee employees.

The first of its kind in the retail industry, the program offers 11 elective benefit options to more than 58,000 part-time Hy-Vee employees. Any part-time employee 19 years and older is eligible for the program, which also covers spouses and dependents. Elective benefit options include: health; dental; short-term disability; vision; group life; accident; critical illness; hospital indemnity; individual life and disability; auto, homeowners and renters; and pet insurance.

“Our people are the key to our success. We developed the new part-time employee benefits program with the goal of giving Hy-Vee a competitive advantage in the recruiting and retention efforts of our part-time employees,” said Sheila Laing, Hy-Vee’s chief administrative officer and executive vice president. “Benefits are an important component to the health and satisfaction of our employees. This program is unique in our industry and differentiates us from other retailers, while improving the lives of our employees.”

Part-time Hy-Vee employees have the opportunity to shop for comprehensive medical insurance options alongside a new package of affordable group benefits through an online portal. The portal, entitled the Hy-Vee Part-time Smart Choices™ Marketplace, is an intuitive platform developed by Connecture that uses smart features to help employees choose the best elective benefits for their individual needs.

“Connecture’s technology is a game-changer when it comes to assisting employees in making informed benefit choices,” said Jeff Surges, Connecture president and CEO. “Collaborating with Hy-Vee makes perfect sense as our platform complements their charge to reshape the way benefits are delivered in their industry. Our hope is that Hy-Vee will serve as a model for other companies, and inspire them to bring similar programs to life.”

Hy-Vee and Midwest Heritage worked collaboratively to identify the diverse benefit needs of part-time Hy-Vee employees. One of the avenues utilized to determine need was a company-wide survey, which indicated 80 percent of part-time employees considered benefits a key component when choosing a part-time position.

“We have a large population of employees who benefit from these elective offerings,” said Michael O’Donnell, Midwest Heritage senior vice president. “We quickly recognized that communicating benefit options to 58,000 people would take an intuitive, user-friendly platform. This is why we partnered with Connecture to offer the Smart Choices Marketplace, to ensure we could communicate with and meet the diverse insurance needs of our part-time employees and their families.”

The new benefits program offers affordable medical insurance options, for as little as $200 a month, depending on electives and coverage type. Midwest Heritage plans to partner with Connecture to provide similar offerings to employers interested in expanding benefits for their part-time employees.

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Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned corporation operating more than 245 retail stores across eight Midwestern states with sales of $10 billion annually. The supermarket chain is synonymous with quality, variety, convenience, healthy lifestyles, culinary expertise and superior customer service. Hy-Vee ranks in the Top 10 Most Trusted Brands and has been named one of America’s Top 5 favorite grocery stores. The company’s more than 80,000 employees provide “A Helpful Smile in Every Aisle” to customers every day. For additional information, visit www.hy-vee.com.

Midwest Heritage, a Hy-Vee company, is a $260 million full-service financial institution offering a comprehensive array of products and services in banking, financial services, and insurance. It is headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, with branches in Chariton, Iowa, and five Hy-Vee store locations in central Iowa. Midwest Heritage’s employee benefits channel works with employers to develop and communicate competitive voluntary employee benefit programs. Midwest Heritage offers the personal service of a community bank with the convenience of a larger bank and is a five-star rated bank by both Bauer Financial Service and Bankrate.com. Midwest Heritage is an FDIC Insured, Equal Housing Lender. For additional information, visit www.mhbank.com.

Connecture is a leading web-based consumer shopping, enrollment and retention platform for health insurance distribution. Connecture offers a personalized health insurance shopping experience that recommends the best fit insurance plan based on an individual’s preferences, health status, preferred providers, medications and expected out-of-pocket costs. Connecture’s customers are health insurance marketplace operators such as health plans, brokers and exchange operators, who must distribute health insurance in a cost-effective manner to a growing number of insured consumers. Connecture’s solutions automate key functions in the health insurance distribution process, allowing its customers to price and present plan options accurately to consumers and efficiently enroll, renew and manage plan members.